bizjournals: Enter the dragon

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They're not top-quality automobiles, and the Chinese aren'y the best drivers in the so in afew years, many of them will be headedf to the junkyard. When they do, Al-John Inc., an Iowa manufacturer of recycling equipment, will be The company is already lining up distributor in China forits $300,000 car-crusher, which can proces a load of automobiles in just 30 minutes. "We're goingf to have a good market somewherer downthe road," says Al-Jon CEO Kendig Kneen. So will lots of othet American companies. U.S. exporte to China were up 22 percent last and this growth rate will continue for theforeseeabl future, says Craig Allen, the U.S. Commercial Service's senior officer in Beijing. (See .
) The economy of Chinaa -- the world's most populous countryh -- is growing by a robust 9 percenta year. "Growtjh like that sucks in a ton of imports inall areas," Allen says. Every another American company opens its first store or franchisein China, Allen says. Americanj companies have a good reputation in China as sellers that stanr behindtheir products, says Jim Morrison, president of the Small Businesds Exporters Association. This helps open doors to new business. Several areaes hold particular promise: Developin g China's information technology industry is a top priority for theChinesde government.
That may create problems for American IT companiexs inthe future, but for now, it's an opportunity. Chinsa has surpassed Japan as the second-largest producer of electronices and IT products behind the United but it still has to imporyt most of thecore technologies, including computer chips, used in theses products. "We see nothing but growth in front ofus there, " says Phil Pompa, a vice presiden t at SigmaTel Inc., an Austin, Texas-baserd manufacturer of integrated circuits used in MP3 personal computers and DVD players. Chinq and Hong Kong already account for more than halfof SigmaTel'sw sales.
The company recently opened an engineeringf center in Hong Kong to provide applications and technicapl support to itsChinese customers. Chin also is intent on developing its ownsoftwaree industry, but American companies are finding loads of opportunities therre for products at the high end. Northwest Analytical of Ore., for example, is selling its manufacturing procesds analysis software to a growing number of customerzin China. The company recently signed a partnership dealwith China'a largest software company. Multinational companies that alreadyused NWA's softward -- Nike, for example -- were the company' first customers in China.
But NWA CEO Clifff Yee says Chinese manufacturers are beginning to pay attentio to improving their industrial processes becaussethey don't want to just be low-cosg producers. "Their nationalistic goal," Yee "is to be the best manufacturersz anywhere inthe world." China is one of the fastest-growing markets in the world for medical and American technology is viewedd as the best. Alliance Medical, a 12-employeew endoscope repair company based inBel Camp, Md., is looking to doubld its sales by entering the Chinese Alliance recently inked a distributorf deal with Hokai Medical, a Chinese medical device company with 28 sales offices acrosx China.
China has three times as many hospitala as theUnited States, so, "it's got to be a good market,"" says Alliance principal David Litterello. Most of the endoscopes used in Chin a are older models that Alliance can repaif at a fraction of the cost of buyinfnew devices, he says. China may be a powerhousre in manufacturing, but it's still weak in This presents major opportunitiesfor U.S. be they insurance companies orad agencies.
Atlantsa architectural firm Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates' reputatio n as a convention centerexpert -- the firm has designed more than 40 of them -- helped TVS win a contracft to design the 340,000-square-meter Chin International Exhibition Center in Beijing. "That played extremely well," says TVS principapl Bill Halter. "They like you to be seen as the expert. E-mail: khoover@bizjournals.
com